The present invention relates to a magnetic attachment for a light assembly, and more particularly, to a magnetic shelf attachment for a light assembly in a merchandiser.
In conventional practice, commercial businesses such as supermarkets and convenience stores are equipped with refrigerated merchandisers. These refrigerated merchandisers may be open or provided with doors and are used for presenting perishable food or beverages to customers while maintaining the fresh food or beverages in a refrigerated environment. Typically, these refrigerated merchandisers include a light source to illuminate the product display area for better marketing of the food product and for higher visibility to the customers.
Conventional refrigerated merchandisers typically include a fluorescent light source to illuminate the product display area. Some refrigerated merchandisers include fluorescent light sources coupled to a canopy of the refrigerated merchandiser to direct light generally downward onto the food product in the product display area. These refrigerated merchandisers also may include fluorescent light sources attached to shelves or other areas of the product display area. Generally, the fluorescent light sources used in conventional refrigerated merchandisers are relatively large, and reduce the amount of space in the refrigerated merchandiser that can be allocated to displaying food product.
The effectiveness of fluorescent light sources is dependent on the temperature of the application where the fluorescent light sources are used. In colder temperature environments, the fluorescent light source has less light output than a fluorescent light source in warmer temperature environments.
Other refrigerated merchandisers include light emitting diode (LED) light sources to illuminate the product display area. These LED light sources generally operate at a relatively high current (e.g., 300 mA), which produces a substantial amount of heat that can adversely affect the temperature of the food product in the product display area.
Replacing light sources in existing merchandisers can be relatively complex and inefficient. Generally, merchandisers must be modified to accommodate a replacement light source. Often, additional holes are needed in the existing canopy and/or shelves to adapt the existing merchandiser to the replacement light source, which can increase the complexity of the assembly process and the time needed to replace the light source.